![\"Dustin](\"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2160319CMYK-315x418.jpg\")
<\/a>The demanding day-to-day grind of a scout requires discipline that most people don\u2019t have. Evans, however, sees it another way. \u201cScouting does involve a lot of travel, but when you love what you’re doing, it’s not even like working. I might be on the other side of baseball in the stands, but this is where my passion lies,” he explained, about his connection to the game.<\/p>\nEvans brings a well-rounded perspective to the world of scouting — he spent many years on the diamond where he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds straight out of high school, was a pitcher for Eagles baseball, then was later drafted by the Atlanta Braves.<\/p>\n
Evans\u2019 road to a successful career in baseball began in Taylorsville, Ga., where he grew up on his family\u2019s farm and began playing the sport at the age of five. \u201cI didn\u2019t start pitching until I was 14,\u201d Evans recalled about his childhood. In fact, his year-round dedication to the sport included throwing baseballs in the snow with his dad.<\/p>\n
During high school, Evans got his first taste of what professional baseball life was really like. “I played with the East Cobb Yankees, and we were ranked number one in the nation. My senior year, we won the national championship. We were playing games every day and traveling from Memphis, Tenn. to New Mexico.”<\/p>\n
Evans\u2019 stand-out talent caught the eye of the Cincinnati Reds, and he was drafted in the 28th round by the Major League team. Evans, however, had other ideas. \u201cThe opportunity was not right at the time to start my professional career, and college was the route my family and I thought was best. Plus, there is no greater place to play than J.I. Clements Stadium,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
During his collegiate career, Evans compiled a 20-12 record in 49 career appearances during three seasons. \u201cMy best year was my sophomore year,\u201d he recalled. \u201cOne of the highlights was striking out 14 guys in a seven-inning game against Mercer,\u201d he added. As a three-year letterman, Evans was also named a Top Prospect by Baseball America and SoCon Pitcher of the Week.<\/p>\n
In 2006, Evans was selected as the second round draft pick for the Atlanta Braves. \u201cPlaying professional baseball was a dream come true,\u201d he said, \u201cand I was ready to start another chapter in my life. Two days after I signed, I headed to Orlando for training camp. I had no clue what to expect,\u201d he said. For the next few years, Evans was a right-handed starting pitcher for the Danville Braves, Rome Braves, Myrtle Beach Pelicans and the Mississippi Braves.<\/p>\n
Evans quickly learned the Minor Leagues were a world away from his collegiate career. He was playing 120 games a season every day during the course of six to seven months, with some bus trips as far away as Wilmington, Del. \u201cIt was all baseball, all day,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
After playing three seasons, Evans suffered a career-ending injury. \u201cI was fortunate to have the opportunity to play professional baseball, but I was ready to begin another chapter in my life,\u201d he said. Evans returned to Georgia Southern to complete his degree, began volunteering with Eagles baseball, and was hired as director of operations for the team. He assisted pitching coach B.J. Green by working with the pitchers on strength training, most notably, former Eagles pitcher Chris Beck, who was drafted by the Chicago White Sox last spring.<\/p>\n
Last fall, Evans began his sought-after job with the Mariners, scouting high school and college players. In the process, he has made a few new discoveries since his days on the pitching mound.<\/p>\n
“The game of baseball is evolving. Players are getting bigger, faster and stronger, and with baseball, they are figuring out the tiny nuances, like how to condition your body through strength training. I\u2019m seeing guys that hit farther and throw a lot harder,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Another day on the road always means there is another chance Evans might discover baseball\u2019s next new talent. \u201cIt varies \u2014 I might visit a college pitcher today to watch his bullpen and the game, and a hitter tomorrow. I might find that one guy that a lot of other people haven\u2019t seen. There’s a lot of talent out there, and sometimes you don’t have to go too far to find it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
– Mary Beth Spence<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Georgia Southern Alumnus Searches for Major League Baseball\u2019s Next Big Thing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[40],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","tag-spring-2013"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Road](\"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/roadwarrior.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Dustin](\"http:\/\/ww2.georgiasouthern.edu\/news\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2160319CMYK.jpg\")
<\/a>The demanding day-to-day grind of a scout requires discipline that most people don\u2019t have. Evans, however, sees it another way. \u201cScouting does involve a lot of travel, but when you love what you’re doing, it’s not even like working. I might be on the other side of baseball in the stands, but this is where my passion lies,” he explained, about his connection to the game.<\/p>\n